I have to give credit where it's due -- one of my satified customers came up with the description of Whiskey Creek's unique plates as peel and play.
Even though I describe these plates in detail in my catalog, there's nothing like a picture to clear up any confusion. In fact, even though I wax perhaps too effusively about Whiskey Creek plates, my happy customers still sometimes contact me with genuine surprise: "They are exactly as you described."
Whiskey Creek peel and play plates are so unusual to the stamping industry that even experienced stampers have trouble understanding that these plates are real -- until they see them.
My plates are a generous 8 inches by 11 inches, the largest size most vulcanizers handle. Whenever you see a plate price, always check the size of the "plate." They are not all created equal. Another standard size is about 5 inches by 8 inches. Before passing judgment on the price of a plate, always check it's size.
To my knowledge, Whiskey Creek is the only stamp company which sells its plates with adhesive backed sponge. Among experienced stampers you can start a real war by touting the glories of one kind of sponge over another. I have even read on the lists that some stampers will remove one kind of sponge from a stamp and replace it with another. I respect any artist's quest for the best materials to work with, but I truly believe no one would really have to do this with a Whiskey Creek Stamp.
The sponge on a Whiskey Creek plate comes with adhesive backing. Note the heavy peel-away paper on the back of the plate. This may sound like something no one would really need, but if you have already ventured into buying bare rubber dies and trying to glue sponge onto the rubber, then some sort of temporary mounting system onto the sponge you have just glued to the die, you already know how time consuming and messy this can get.
But that's not all our peel and play plates offer!
The images on Whiskey Creek Plates are already cut out for you! And note the quality of this cutting. No squared off edges. No stray rubber to cause those annoying splats on your stamped surfaces. One customer thought the images had actually been cut out with a laser! And with this particular plate consisting of two frames, note that the inside of the frame is cut out as well as the outside.
Again, this may seem like a useless luxury until you try cutting out a bunch of rubber, sponge, and possibly vinyl cling. I haven't heard anyone on the lists complain of blisters on their cutting fingers, but I do know there's a real art to getting all the layers cut out in such a way that the finished stamp doesn't have a lot of extra rubber around the edges. Often leading to those stray ink smudges here and there.
But there's more!
Whiskey Creek plates also have what we call backgrounders to fill in some of the dead rubber area on the plate. We include three, sometimes four small images that make wonderful embellishments on cards. With this frame plate, the embellishments are on the center panel that has been cut out. All you need to do is press out this panel and trim them. You really don't have to mount these embellishments -- or any of the images on Whiskey Creek plates -- to use them. Just get out your brayer and ink them up!
The backgrounders, by the way, are not cut out, as you can see by looking at this frame plate. We don't want you to forget how handy peel and play plates are, so cutting out these small images keeps reminding you how much of a pain cutting sponged rubber can be!
These embellishments vary in size, but most will fit on small blocks of wood that can be picked up in any woodworker's trash bin. I find many fit nicely on a 1 1/2-in dowel rod, cut in 2-inch segments. I stamp the image on one round surface and simply peel off the adhesive backing and stick it to the opposite round end.
Whiskey Creek does not sell these backgrounders. These embellishments are exclusive gifts to those who buy our plates.
So the next time you look at the price of a plate of rubber, do your math. You are saving the cost of sponge. You are saving the cost of glue. You are likely saving yourself some serious pain in your cutting fingers. And you are saving an inordinate amount of down time, time you could be having a lot more fun actually stamping!
And last but not least, we pay the Priority postage! Whiskey Creek believes its plates are one of the best stamping bargains around!
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